The Discovery of the Artificial Transmutation of Uranium

By marisaswedberg

  • Uranium

    Uranium had the most protons of any known element.

  • Neutron-induced Uranium Decay

    Lise Meitner, Otto Hahn, and Fritz Strassman began investigating neutron-induced uranium decay at the end of 1934.

  • Transuranes

    Otto Hahn was sure of the chemical evidence of transuranes.

  • Escaping the Nazis

    By 1938, the political situation had become dangerous for Meitner, and she fled to Sweden. In Berlin, Hahn and Strassman continued to communicate with Meitner to find that the uranium nuclei had been broken apart into elemental fragments.

  • Uranium Transformation

    Nuclear investigators in both fields had collaborated to provide a stunning explanation for the mysterious results of uranium's forced transformation.

  • Nobel Prize Winner

    Otto Hahn wins a Nobel Prize in chemistry.

  • Meitner's Death

    Lise Meitner dies.